Goodbye, Braces

A new trend had recently taken hold among the NEXTY members.

Imitating Kang Sejun's MC scenes.

"Code—On!"

"No, hyung! That's not it. You gotta do it like this."

The maknae, Zenon, thrust his index finger forward.

"The hand is the point!"

Voice pitched two tones lower, to boot.

"Code. On."

The living room fell apart.

"BWAHAHAHA!!"

Kang Sejun finally lost it and grabbed Zenon by the ear.

"AAACK! Hyung!"

"Knock it off, will you?"

"That hurts!"

"It's supposed to hurt, you little punk."

This was daily life at the NEXTY dorm these days. Ever since Boys Code started, the members had been glued to the live broadcast every single week.

"Episode 3's starting—"

"Hyeon-woo hyung! Aren't you watching episode 3?"

"Oh please, with the great MC himself gracing us? Of course I'm watching."

Years of seasoning had honed the fine art of teasing to a razor edge. Kang Sejun squeezed his eyes shut.

"Ah, hyung, but the braces kid... I mean, Yuseongwoo? What do you think of him?"

"Seongwoo? Why?"

"Zenon says he's his one-pick."

Kang Sejun let out a dry little laugh.

"Today's... episode 2, right? We'll see."

"What, you think he's getting a lot of screen time?"

Kang Sejun just shrugged.

"Oh."

The moment Yuseongwoo appeared on screen, Zenon applauded.

"There he is already."

Hugging the snack set to his chest, genuinely delighted.

Hyeon-woo burst out laughing.

"Wow, what is with that guy?"

"What do you mean?"

"He's so ridiculously positive?"

Kang Sejun took a swig from the beer beside him and added a comment of his own.

"I was dumbfounded when the producers told me about it, you know? They make them race first thing in the morning and the prize is a snack set. It's not like they're elementary schoolers."

"Maybe the mission was never about the prize in the first place?"

"Yeah. Look at the other trainees' reactions. They're all dumbfounded."

"He's cute, though."

Once the team selection wrapped up, the broadcast moved on to each team's meeting.

"Good grief."

The NEXTY members were absorbed in Boys Code as if it were a drama.

"How's someone that introverted planning to be an idol?"

The members clicked their tongues.

"Right? You should at least be ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠able to talk as much as Zenon does."

"Me? I don't talk that much at all?"

"Whoa, what's Seongwoo about to do?"

"Keep this up and I'm telling you, he's gonna get my vote too."

"Oh right, hyung. When does the public voting start?"

"Wait, you're actually going to vote?"

Zenon nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Kang Sejun shook his head.

"Just don't go advertising it anywhere, got it? It'd raise fairness issues for no reason."

"Oh, whoa. Good point."

"Huh?"

"He's more of a macho man than I expected?"

"No kidding. I figured he was the quiet type."

The tone was soft and gentle, but the content was firm. In perfect unison, the NEXTY members leaned back and let out a low whistle of admiration.

"Total old-school senior idol energy right there."

"Insane. He wasn't that good at talking things like this out before, was he?"

Kang Sejun smiled a little too.

"It's been a long time since I've seen a kid that assertive on a survival show."

"Is it extra brutal because it's a company-hosted survival?"

"Seongwoo? That kid would do great as a producer, honestly. He can do producing too, you know."

"How did he spot vocal potential in a rapper?"

"He knows exactly how to win people over—"

Even in the eyes of the professional idols of NEXTY, Yuseongwoo was beginning to look more and more like a fascinating trainee.

"That kid's got real character, man, real character."

"Hyung, are you going to vote too?"

"Maybe I will."

"Oh boy, those kids are hopeless."

"How would you know, hyung? This could all be manufactured—villain editing and stuff."

But then Yuseongwoo turned the mood around once again.

"Hold on."

"......What is that?"

At the sight of dance moves no one had ever seen before, a brief silence settled over the living room.

"......PUWAHAHAHA!!"

Zenon was the first to explode, clutching his belly. He even rolled across the living room floor in a fit. In an instant, the whole dorm had become an ocean of laughter.

"Wow— incredible."

"Seongwoo's debut might be a lost cause, huh?"

"Zenon reminds me of when he was a baby."

"Ah, hyung!"

On screen, Yuseongwoo wore an expression of wounded innocence.

"Oh my god, this guy's killing me?"

"My stomach hurts, ah......"

"But he really is a hopeless klutz, isn't he......"

Kang Sejun couldn't take his eyes off Yuseongwoo's dancing.

His dancing was only that bad.

Then how on earth did he pull off the main stage?

The memory must have been seared into him, because his shoulders were trembling even now. The NEXTY members couldn't hold back their laughter.

The NEXTY dorm was devastated in exactly the same way. Even the braces that flashed every time he bit his lip in embarrassment were funny at this point.

The broadcast soon moved on to the mid-term evaluation.

Shak, shashak—

"Ugh, every time that sound effect played, I got chills just watching."

"So positive."

Failure, despair, and back to practice.

Even at ten times the speed, the practice footage seemed never-ending, and it said plenty about how much time that team had practically lived in their studio.

And at Yuseongwoo's successful high note, Zenon clenched his fist.

"That kid's going to make main vocal, I'm telling you."

"Wow, he really did great, huh?"

"Seongwoo's definitely making the debut group. Right?"

But when Yuseongwoo held his position at Code 6, contrary to their expectations, the questions came pouring out before anyone could decide who should ask first.

"Wait, why?"

"Hyung, what on earth are the judging criteria here?"

"That's it. Hurry up and open the voting. This won't do!"

Kang Sejun placed a hand gently on the fired-up Zenon's head.

"Just wait a little."

"But that kid—"

Hyeon-woo, quiet until now, murmured as he watched the screen.

"He's going to debut."

At those words, everyone nodded.

The most dangerous thing on a survival show isn't the overwhelming genius. It's the person viewers find themselves rooting for without ever realizing it.

And in Kang Sejun's eyes, Yuseongwoo was exactly that kind of protagonist.

The two weeks that had felt like two months were over. Or rather, to be precise, they had genuinely been two months for me.

Thanks to the SP that had exploded after episode 2 aired, I turned the Hourglass every single day. So while everyone else experienced two weeks, for me it had stretched to nearly two full months.

They say humans are creatures of adaptation, right? And what I'd repeated for close to two months wasn't just dancing. Yuseong-ah's yelling, her endless list of household chores, and the stinging slap of the massage stick that flew at me without mercy every time I botched a move or failed to commit one to memory......

Honestly, I figured I could probably shrug off most hate comments at this point. After all, none of them ever tore into me one-on-one the way Yuseong-ah did.

"Alright, last run."

Yuseong-ah and I stood before the mirror.

I moved my body along the count she was beating out with her mouth.

"One, two, three, four!"

Steps, waves, isolations. The fundamental moves flowed into one another seamlessly.

Then, all at once, my reflection in the mirror felt strangely unfamiliar.

Huh?

That's... me?

The old me hadn't been moving my body. I'd been at war with it.

My brain would go right while my body went left, and whenever I tried a wave, it came out so choppy I could feel every individual joint in my bones popping.

"Next, the wave!"

That same body now moved exactly as I intended.

Farewell forever, to the days I got nagged about playing Tetris with my arms.

My arm was genuinely riding a wave now. I could still picture Yuseong-ah's massage stick, which smacked down with a crack every time a move broke. That sensation had melted into my arm for good.

"Next, the step!"

Squeak—

The soles of my sneakers skimmed the floor. My ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feet moved on the beat, my center of gravity rock-steady.

Ah—

So this is why people love dancing.

Being able to move my body however I pleased was far, far more exhilarating than I'd imagined.

"Final eight-count!"

Squeak—!

I finished the last move cleanly.

......Clap, clap, clap.

Quiet applause echoing through the practice room.

"You did it......!"

I collapsed where I stood, flopping onto the floor.

Then I threw both arms up in the air. A victory V.

This was a historic moment. In two short weeks, the squid had evolved into a human being.

"Ha......"

Yuseong-ah had a hand pressed to her forehead.

Could it be? Was she moved by my dazzling progress?

"Hey."

"Yeah?"

"I really am something, you know."

Well, sure. Obviously.

I gave a quiet nod.

"I took— I took a hopeless klutz and turned him into a human being......"

Yuseong-ah said, her voice trembling.

"In two weeks, no less."

I didn't argue. Strictly speaking, it had been two months, but setting that aside, she wasn't wrong.

"Hey, from now on I'm advertising with you. 'No matter how much of a dance klutz you are, two weeks is all you need!' That kind of thing."

"......Sure."

The tearful special training was finally over. At long last, I was being released from prison.

"Now that you're back in there, who knows when you'll come out again?"

"Probably not for a while."

"Good. And don't forget—"

Maybe because I'd heard it so many times over the past two weeks, I answered like a robot.

"I will never tell anyone that you're my sister."

"Correct. Off you go."

Gripping my legs, still throbbing with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠muscle soreness, I made my way down the stairs. Goodbye, horrible practice room. At last.

I wasn't heading back to the dorm right away, though. There was still one place I had to stop first.

I left one last photo behind.

"Chee—"

Click!

Goodbye, braces. As of today.